"They have all agreed to focus on having talks not just for the sake of talks, but this is the beginning of direct final status negotiations on a nine-month, at least a nine-month, timetable," Spokeswoman Jen Psaki said according to AFP.

The nine-month window was "not a deadline," Psaki told reporters. "This is an agreement that they will work together for at least that time period on this effort," she said, according to AFP."So we're going to make every effort to reach an agreement within that time frame, but again, if we're making progress and we're continuing to make progress, this is not a deadline."